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/ We invented a new protocol and called it Kermit, after Kermit the Frog,        \
| star of "The Muppet Show." [3]                                                 |
|                                                                                |
| [3]  Why?  Mostly because there was a Muppets calendar on the wall when we     |
| were trying to think of a name, and Kermit is a pleasant, unassuming sort of   |
| character.  But since we weren't sure whether it was OK to name our protocol   |
| after this popular television and movie star, we pretended that KERMIT was an  |
| acronym; unfortunately, we could never find a good set of words to go with the |
| letters, as readers of some of our early source code can attest.  Later, while |
| looking through a name book for his forthcoming baby, Bill Catchings noticed   |
| that "Kermit" was a Celtic word for "free", which is what all Kermit programs  |
| should be, and words to this effect replaced the strained acronyms in our      |
| source code (Bill's baby turned out to be a girl, so he had to name her Becky  |
| instead).  When BYTE Magazine was preparing our 1984 Kermit article for        |
| publication, they suggested we contact Henson Associates Inc. for permission   |
| to say that we did indeed name the protocol after Kermit the Frog.  Permission |
| was kindly granted, and now the real story can be told.  I resisted the        |
| temptation, however, to call the present work "Kermit the Book."               |
\                 -- Frank da Cruz, "Kermit - A File Transfer Protocol"          /
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         \  (oo)\_______
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                ||----w |
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According to the Fact Sphere: "Edmund Hilary, the first person to climb Mt. Everest, did so accidentally, while chasing a bird."


In the spirit of William Shakespeare: Thou art a weedy, ill-nurtured maggot-pie.